going active with 2 channels?

[fatryan 5,000+ posts]

Lol, just try ~75 and go from there...if you have your crossovers set correctly I highly doubt you will pop anything...start with low volume levels...

well i dont really want to risk anything lol thats the whole reason why im even considering going active....rainbow sux with warranties.

 

[Fast1one 10+ year member]

well i dont really want to risk anything lol thats the whole reason why im even considering going active....rainbow sux with warranties.

I understand that, the beauty of having a ton of headroom though is that you run less of a risk of clipping your amp with dynamics...
I really doubt you will pop anything with such little power. If you do, then maybe you should look into another hobby //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif J/K..

If you want to protect your tweeter, add a cap in series with the positive end of the tweeter terminal. Something between 20-30 micro farads should be fine...this will add an additional crossover between 1.5-2khz should your highpass filter fail...parts express has them...

 

[fatryan 5,000+ posts]

I understand that, the beauty of having a ton of headroom though is that you run less of a risk of clipping your amp with dynamics...
I really doubt you will pop anything with such little power. If you do, then maybe you should look into another hobby //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif J/K..

If you want to protect your tweeter, add a cap in series with the positive end of the tweeter terminal. Something between 20-30 micro farads should be fine...this will add an additional crossover between 1.5-2khz should your highpass filter fail...parts express has them...

lol, not really tryin to get all ghetto on my setup. i know i got headroom but im just worried because (even though i was seriously overpowering the comps b4) they were supposed to handle the power without issue AND the signal wasnt being clipped...i checked it with my o-scope.

i dunno, well see what happens. i still gotta wait on aarons response to see if i can even do this.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

I don't think you understand the idea of headroom. Head room doesn't mean that you crank your amp to the point where it is almost clipping and then crank the volume. It means you only give the power that is needed and if you're listening to music with a dynamic peak, your amp can safely deliver the clean power.

If you're going to go active, please don't set your gains with a meter -- set them by ear first. My tweeters are on an amp that does about 100rms and the gain is much lower on the tweeters than on the mids which are powered by the same amp. I like a bright and aggressive tweeter so mine is actually slightly louder than my mids. I'm running about 10% gain on the tweeters and about 45% gain on the mids. The mids are also not getting full power from the amp as it takes about 65% gain to get full output with a 0dB tone. I would never run the mids that high even though they are rated at 100rms an the tweeters are rated at 100rms as well.

Going active is all about YOUR ears and what you like. You do need self control and you need to use your eyes and ears to detect when the speakers are struggling.

Oh and do the gain setting with the subs off as to not get confused with things rattling and thinking it's the drivers struggling.

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

And your headunit is not active capable. I also don't believe your amp has bandpass capabilities.

 

[fatryan 5,000+ posts]

I don't think you understand the idea of headroom. Head room doesn't mean that you crank your amp to the point where it is almost clipping and then crank the volume. It means you only give the power that is needed and if you're listening to music with a dynamic peak, your amp can safely deliver the clean power.
If you're going to go active, please don't set your gains with a meter -- set them by ear first. My tweeters are on an amp that does about 100rms and the gain is much lower on the tweeters than on the mids which are powered by the same amp. I like a bright and aggressive tweeter so mine is actually slightly louder than my mids. I'm running about 10% gain on the tweeters and about 45% gain on the mids. The mids are also not getting full power from the amp as it takes about 65% gain to get full output with a 0dB tone. I would never run the mids that high even though they are rated at 100rms an the tweeters are rated at 100rms as well.

Going active is all about YOUR ears and what you like. You do need self control and you need to use your eyes and ears to detect when the speakers are struggling.

Oh and do the gain setting with the subs off as to not get confused with things rattling and thinking it's the drivers struggling.

had you read my previous posts you should have known that im not a noob. i know what im doing with the gains, trust me. but like i said i have trouble with setting things by ear. that has nothing to do with experience. there are other issues involved that i wont get into.
i will start off with recommended power and go down from there. obviously if the tweets are too bright, ill turn them down. thats a given. but so long as im modest with the gains and not exceeding the recommended power, there should be no reason for any drivers to be struggling, especially CMXs. and i know not to set ANYTHING having to do with the speakers while the subs are playing lol. i have a 0dB 1kHz test tone that i have been using to set the gains on all my comp amps for years. i really dont know why ive had issues with these comps. im pretty convinced that it was just a fluke considering the signal wasnt clipping. but regardless, this time im taking the cautious approach and just doing recommended power.

btw, aaron gave the go ahead on going active. what does everyone else think about the above mentioned processing? (Memphis 16-x03)

 

[fatryan 5,000+ posts]

And your headunit is not active capable. I also don't believe your amp has bandpass capabilities.

yeah i know //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif i really thought my deck was active capable but after reading through the manual i found it it wasnt.

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

had you read my previous posts you should have known that im not a noob. i know what im doing with the gains, trust me. but like i said i have trouble with setting things by ear. that has nothing to do with experience. there are other issues involved that i wont get into.
i will start off with recommended power and go down from there. obviously if the tweets are too bright, ill turn them down. thats a given. but so long as im modest with the gains and not exceeding the recommended power, there should be no reason for any drivers to be struggling, especially CMXs. and i know not to set ANYTHING having to do with the speakers while the subs are playing lol. i have a 0dB 1kHz test tone that i have been using to set the gains on all my comp amps for years. i really dont know why ive had issues with these comps. im pretty convinced that it was just a fluke considering the signal wasnt clipping. but regardless, this time im taking the cautious approach and just doing recommended power.

btw, aaron gave the go ahead on going active. what does everyone else think about the above mentioned processing? (Memphis 16-x03)

While running active you will require less power, I would not set the gains at rated power, you may be asking for trouble, start lower then go from there.

 

[fatryan 5,000+ posts]

While running active you will require less power, I would not set the gains at rated power, you may be asking for trouble, start lower then go from there.

i understand that they will require less, thats why i said id start at recommended and go down from there as i see fit. but regardless of whether im going active or staying passive, the recommended ratings are there for a reason. if the drivers couldnt handle it, they wouldnt put it there. i also ran this by aaron and he said its fine.

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

Well you had a problem in the past, people are trying to help you from having that problem again.

 

[fatryan 5,000+ posts]

Well you had a problem in the past, people are trying to help you from having that problem again.

if i set my gains for recommended power and these **** comps die again, im personally flying over to germany to shove them up the owners ***. if you dont know, most people run these comps at 150-200w per side (passive). some do less, some do more. and i have never heard of anyone having issues. i set mine @ 200 per side and they died. now im going to do 100 per side. the ratings on rainbows site are per driver, not for the whole set. so each component is supposed to be able to handle 100wrms without issue. im not saying ill end up using that much, i dont even know yet. but there is 0 reason why they cant handle it. rainbow has a good name.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

i understand that they will require less, thats why i said id start at recommended and go down from there as i see fit. but regardless of whether im going active or staying passive, the recommended ratings are there for a reason. if the drivers couldnt handle it, they wouldnt put it there. i also ran this by aaron and he said its fine.

Your logic is very flawed. ALWAYS start low and go up from there. Doing the opposite is asking for trouble.

I guess then you can come on the forums and cry again about ****ing your stuff up saying that it isn't your fault since you gave it recommended power. Have fun.

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

Just set your gains to 100rms to each then...maybe 75 for the tweeter. As for the crossover try the tweeter highpass @ 4000hz and the woofer lowpass @ 3500hz...you should be fine...

Wouldnt that leave a big hole in your stage?

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

Your logic is very flawed. ALWAYS start low and go up from there. Doing the opposite is asking for trouble.
I guess then you can come on the forums and cry again about ****ing your stuff up saying that it isn't your fault since you gave it recommended power. Have fun.

^ agreed.

 

[fatryan 5,000+ posts]

Your logic is very flawed. ALWAYS start low and go up from there. Doing the opposite is asking for trouble.
I guess then you can come on the forums and cry again about ****ing your stuff up saying that it isn't your fault since you gave it recommended power. Have fun.

your a moron. you think that the drivers arent supposed to handle recommended power? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif this isnt audiobahn you know. i know from personal experience that if i start low and go up i end up exceeding recommended power anyways. this is a safer route, trust me.